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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. game — wild animals
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. kid — child
  6. prune — to trim
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. last — final
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. game — a match
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. last — finally
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. perch — the fish
  23. kid — to tease
  24. trunk — of a car

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com